http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericjackson/2012/01/31/why-every-company-needs-a-no-bozo-policy/
One of the few areas where I agree with Jobs. The bozos need to go. From my experience, these people tend to be project managers, business analysts, and super-users. In other words, people who think they know how to do my job, but really don’t have a clue who to write software in an enterprise environment. I don’t know how many times I have heard “Ya know… I used to code too.” Queue the eye roll. “Really, if you were any good at it you’d still be doing it which is why you’re not programming any longer. Right?” I am PC enough to not say that out loud (yet), but I have started heckling the people that use that line on me in more subtle ways. “Ya know… That headshot makes you look like a salesman. Exactly what are you trying to sell?”
Something else I read recently in a Neal Stevenson book, Reamde:
A’s hire A’s. B’s hire C’s
Which kind of explains why we have such a hard time finding the right contractors. I wants As. I don’t want people to stroke my ego. I want people that can write kick-ass code while conforming just enough to allow their code to be supported in the long-term.
It’s even better when they can teach me something.
I’m allowed to dream. Right?